I struggled with this big time, I'm not sure if it was due to the book or a slump but I starting skimming through about halfway in. It was a slow, slow burn and I felt like there was A LOT of filler and unnecessary story for the plot. I couldn't find myself really connecting with the story and never really felt the horror vibes. I felt like the ending was extremely abrupt and I wasn't entirely sure what actually happened. I really wish I could have enjoyed this more and I think this could be a good book for the spooky season, for the right person.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

All in all, I enjoyed this. This was a very strong 3.5 haunted horror book that I rounded up to 4 stars. I thought the character of Essie was great. And I loved the backstory we get on Isabella. The writing and pace was solid too. The main reason why I did not give this 5 stars is that I wanted the “darkness” to be darker and have a better explanation of what it was and where it came from. That said, the heart of this book is Essie and Sanjay’s love story and it was wonderful.

"No Child of Mine" follows law student Essie Kaur. Essie has followed her husband Sanjay so that he could fulfill his dreams of being an architect. Now it's her turn. When they buy the house of their dreams though, things start to go wrong. Smells that only Essie can smell. Sounds and voices of people that can't be there. And when Essie finds herself pregnant, she realizes a family curse she has always made fun of, may not be fake after all. The book shifts from the present with Essie and then to the past following a young woman named Isabel who is devastated after her best friend marries and moves away.

I liked Essie a lot. Here's a woman that knew her own mind and what she wanted. I loved that Giraldes had her as ambivalent as having a baby since she realized that her life was going to change and it was not going to be what she wanted it to be. Essie and Sanjay work a lot too. I think that Giraldes was smart enough to give us enough of their teen and now adult love story that you end up rooting for the couple throughout the book.

Isabel took a while to get a handle on. At first I thought she was being way too overly emotional about her best friend marrying and then....well things get slowly revealed. I was curious what was the date in the past that Isabel lived in. I assume at least 1800s or so? And I think that only because of the description about food and dresses. But, I ended up not liking this character, you will get to why that is when you read the book though. That said, Giraldes did a great job developing her and the character of Ana (Isabel's best friend).

The writing and flow worked very well. There are just hints of darkness and scares around the corner every time Essie is at home.

I really liked the ending though though the solution was just a tad too neat.

FYI also read this for HA’s challenge and it works for the “tricks” slot. A darkness is trying to trick people.

This had all the elements you need for a good Spooky Season read. Family curses that go back generations, houses that are haunted and extremely atmospheric, and the creep is pretty amazing. I was all in from the moment Essie and Sanjay moved into their new home. Excitement and nerves for the unexpected. The first half of the book flew by. The feeling of always being watched, the whispers you swear you hear, footsteps where no one is. All of this sends my hair standing on end and me running for the exit. They think it is just the house, it is old, it has character. A place where they can put down roots and really have a stable future. Each having their own office, children are not in the picture. Until Essie realizes that she is in fact pregnant.

Essie never wanted to be a mom, but as soon as she heard the word, she could not stop thinking about it. She dreads the way it will change her life. Will she be able to finish law school and have an amazing job? Will she be second in Sanjay's eyes now? This made me want to yell at Essie, to stop being selfish, to stop only thinking about herself. As the days march on and the pregnancy becomes more real. So does the house. Could it be linked to the curse her grandmother is always talking about?

I had Practical Magic vibes from the description of their family curse. The details and descriptions had you smelling wet rot, mold, and river swamp. You could envision it. The endless hallways, the nightmares swirling in your mind as you devour more and more of this book. The way in which she describes the baby slowly overtaking Essie's body. Stretching and molding to fit inside, making your body theirs. Thank you to Nichelle Giraldes and Poisoned Pen Press for this spooktacular read!

I received a copy from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for review.

Soooo, I'm DNFing this while I'm ahead (33% in the middle of a chapter to be exact). I guess I didn't realize that the pregnancy would be so indoor face when I requested this and I just can't do it. Especially when you find out in the first 30% that Essie, the main character, doesn't even want children to start. It cheapens the whole "fall in love at your first ultrasound" feel like Pro-Life propaganda and I'm just not here for it. The only thing I'm interested in skipping to the end for is to see who dies and what caused the generational curse. I think the writing is well done and super readable (if I was actually interested in finishing). This story just isn't for me.

First time author for me. I really liked this book. It was very interesting. A couple buy there first house and that's were it starts . A lot of twists and turns in the book. Which makes it an interesting read!

Great job Nichelle. Loved it.

Thank you to Poison Pen Press for letting me read NO CHILD OF MINE early. This one publishes on September 12.

I love a gothic horror and creepy houses and generations of heroines. Unfortunately, this is not that. I really don't care about doctors appointments and take out food. There wasn't enough meat in this one, it was just surrounded by too much salad. Sadly, this one just didn't do it for me.

Interesting tale of a woman who's pregnant but doesn't want to be, her husband, Sanjay, the atmospheric house they've moved into, and a family curse.

Told in a dual timeline from three female's points of view, this story had some intriguing elements, but I didn't really connect with it and decided it wasn't my cup of tea. Other readers may enjoy it more.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

No Child of Mine is an atmospheric horror story following multiple generations of women who are subject to a curse. Their husbands suffer an early death leaving wives and daughters without male role models. Essie and Sanjay marry, buy a house, and fall pregnant. Like most pregnancies, it was not easy for Essie in many ways - timing, career aspirations, and support. As they remodel the house, strange occurrences begin to change the way they feel about each other and the growing child. Eddie faces the challenge of the curse and the haunting of they house while Sanjay weaves himself into becoming part of the house. This story is told through Essie’s lives experiences and letters between her ancestors -Ana and Isabel.

A generational curse told from alternating timelines made this story interesting and that much more haunting for me. A young couple finally buys their first house and have no idea what is in store for them. It is a story about love, pregnancy and the changes that brings, and the strength of the bond between mother and child. It is also chilling with supernatural elements playing a large part in the story.

A fast paced novel on a woman’s journey to save her marriage from a curse that has spanned across her family. Thrilling and leaves you guessing.

This is a Gothic horror, and I'm generally drawn to and enjoy Gothic horror, but I didn't really enjoy this book. The main reason is because the story seems mostly about morning sickness and how protagonist, Essie, is resentful of the fact she is having a baby. This may be where the story is for a certain reader, because the many scenes of hospital checkups and other medical appointments (that don't add to a horror feel) are not of interest to me.

For a Gothic horror, it is light on the elements of the sub-genre. In a lot of ways it felt more like a possessed house, or character possession horror, more than Gothic. The sense of romance between the characters was stronger than any sense of horror. The book felt confused to me. The house did not feel menacing enough. The supernatural/paranormal element was barely noticeable for most of the story. There is macabre imagery, but in dreams only, and the dreams felt very repetitive. I'm not sure about the purpose of the dreams being repetitive and extending that device for so long in the book. I don't think it helped the story move along at all. There is a sense of isolation and madness, but not all for the protagonist, and the isolation didn't drive the Gothic feel in the story. I'm left wondering how to categorise the story.

What this book needed was Sanjay's POV, because the slow-burn story with Essie's POV was not working for me. I would have removed most of the interrupting chapters from Ana and Isabel, which are a past narrative and most of their history is not required, and add Sanjay's POV. Maybe to show his change of emotion or show what was changing his personality. The reason I say this is because it wasn't shown vividly enough through Essie's POV. The observations weren't strong enough. Maybe it was written this way to add intrigue and suspense. But Essie's reactions were strong enough to add the suspense I needed.

I can see in the story the attempts to bring about supernatural tension. Creaks in the house, doors creaking open. That sort of element was used in the book, and used often. But the thing that was missing is the heightened psychological tension because of those things. Creaks and the like need strong reaction to be creepy and foreboding. Sadly that was missing in this book.

I would have loved to enjoy this book more than I did because the concept is so interesting. It looks like this book is receiving favourable reviews from many readers, which is great. As I said, this may be a book for a certain reader.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for proving a free copy of this book for an honest review. All comments are my own.

A very atmospheric tale - could really get into the vividness of the environment and story. The plot itself was slower than I would have liked and took me some time to get into.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the copy of this book!

What a super spooky read for Fall! I loved the multiple POVs and fast pace for most of the book. The imagery was pretty good to create a bit of suspense and scariness. I love narratives that show that pregnancy isn't a cake walk for everyone. Some connections could've been a little better, but overall I liked it.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me.
I could not handle the story. I tried to continue and push through it until I made it to about 35% in and had to DNF.

I appreciate the ARC and this is my honest review.

I struggled with this one quite a bit. Our main character Essie is unlikeable and down right miserable. She finds herself pregnant after meticulously trying NOT to get pregnant and she is resentful and depressed. I can understand, but that’s literally most of the book. Aside from that, alternating chapters bounce between her and two women Isabel and Ana from centuries ago, who are now haunting her and her husband. Theres also an ominous curse that has plagued the women in Essie’s family for generations, and her husband Sanjay’s life may be on the line.

I’m not sure why the title is what it is, because it didn’t make any sense. There wasn’t much mystery, dread or horror so for me it kind of flat lined the entirety of the book. As always, thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for my eARC.

No Child Of Mine is told on two timelines. In the current day, we have Essie and her husband Sanjay, and several generations earlier we have Ana and Isabelle, two women who were profoundly in love in the days when it was just impossible for women to be together.

From the book's description I was expecting a scary read but mostly what I got was a love story interspersed with bouts of morning sickness. Or morning noon and night sickness since poor Essie seemed to be plagued with vomiting at all hours of the day and night, and although I remember what that feels like from my own experience, it did get a bit repetitive to read about crackers and nausea and bile for so many pages.

I enjoyed the characters from the past more than the present day and learning how the curse came to be. An awful curse born of both love and selfishness has taken fathers from their daughters for generations in Essie's family.

I had hoped there would be some spookiness in Essie's new house but other than some whispering and an object occasionally being displaced nothing much happened. Even when the curse began to take hold there wasn't any suspense. The ending seemed too simplistic after so many generations had suffered this curse.

You may enjoy this one more than I did, but it just wasn't for me.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press.

No Child of Mine is a beautiful and tragic tale that I read in one sitting. Throughout the story, there are chapters written from three different women’s point of view: Essie, Isabel, and Ana. Essie is a married third year law student who just bought her first home when she discovers that she is pregnant. She has very mixed feelings about the pregnancy because she never planned to have a baby in her life. The pregnancy itself is challenging and even before the baby arrives, Essie finds that her life is changing from the life that she could have had. Essie also begins hearing some noises in her fixer upper home and there are some serious haunted house vibes. Her devoted husband seems to be spending more time alone in his home office in the creepy attic and is becoming more distant. Essie is deeply concerned about everything going on and is determined to keep everyone safe.
Isabel and Ana are childhood best friends who are happy and content, but like all young women of the time have to grow up and get married to men that they barely know because it’s what’s expected of young women during their time period. These women navigate the loss of their childhood and being a part of their respective family units as they try their best to be make a good life with their new husbands while grieving the loss of their adolescence. I loved the relationship between these characters and truly wanted them to find happiness.

The way that Giraldes writes about the pregnancy seemed very raw and authentic. The way that a woman can be overjoyed and full of love for a new baby while grieving the life that she could have had if she chose to remain childless was very well written. I love that she was also able to make it very clear that at no point did Essie not love the baby. This story was full of grief and longing, yet also full of hope. I loved it and look forward to more works by this author.

Wow!!! I highly enjoyed this book. Essie is very much unexpectedly pregnant. She struggles with adjusting to the world changing news of being a parent. Not only that but her and her husband Sanjay just moved into an old fixer up home. As time goes by Essie starts having paranormal experiences all while her husband’s personality is changing and her baby is growing inside her. As we go through life with Essie we also are in the midst of a emotional story between Ana and Isabel. I loved the story and really enjoyed following along with Essie and ESPECIALLY enjoyed the Ana and Isabel story. It was exciting and I just wanted to keep reading more and more as things unraveled and all the details came together. The author did such a great job with this story. I love the amount of detail the twists it has and her writing story. I will be looking forward to her writing more books!

The synopsis seemed very interesting. I’m always in for a good haunted house story. The book started out great, I binge read the first half rapidly. The second half was a little slower, I had to pick up the book a few times to get though. The ending, in comparison to the rest, seemed very rushed, so that was a let down.

Positive notes:
At times, I reread some paragraphs because I thought some of them were absolutely beautiful. Some quotes really took my breath away. The authors obviously very talented.

I also really, really loved the fact that the author has written about pregnancy in such an honest way. It’s not all butterflies and rainbows for everyone when they find out they’re pregnant and there’s still a stigma surrounded around that. So thank you for that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this book.

The first half of this book was an absolute 5 star for me. It was the type of thriller/horror that I like - it took an everyday concept such as pregnancy and buying an old house and made it spooky. I like when an author can make something mundane into something scary...its just fascinating to me. The writing was good and I felt like I had to keep turning the page to find out what was happening next.

The writing shined the brightest during those early spooky scenes. As someone who has never been pregnant it gave me descriptions and details that made me feel as if I knew what it felt like. The imagery made me feel as if I was actually in the room. I couldn't put this down for like the first 60%. (The first and second trimester)

The last trimester, however, was not as great to me. The pacing slowed to a snails pace and I felt that some of the chapters were telling me the same thing over and over with nothing happening. The ending was the real bummer and I felt like it was rushed - as the ending didn't start until the last chapter or so of the book. Which would have been fine if I felt satisfied with it but unfortunately it just kind of fizzled out.

I've read a couple reviews that people didn't like the main character Essie. I for one liked her. I identified with her a lot but maybe that is because I could understand her thought process as an adult without children. I don't think she was selfish I think she was realistic. A woman who gets pregnant when she doesn't plan it is allowed to have certain feelings about it.

I want to get into the Isabelle/Ana chapters as well because this was a big part of the book. The author did a good job of grasping the relationship between the two characters and made it so we understood both of their motivations for why they did what they did. However...I think this became apparent enough early on and we didn't need several chapters that continued to harp on this unbreakable relationship. It was getting to a point of being too repetitive. Speaking of repetitive...

The repetitive phrases that Sanjay, our MC's husband, said during the book was killing me by the end. The "Are you okay" thing... Was this supposed to be there to make it seem that he was in a fugue state or was it just his catch phrase? Because I felt that I was reading the same conversation between Essie and Sanjay several times.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was unique in its premise and was very readable with characters that I identified with. I will gladly read anything Nichelle Giraldes puts out next.